Relief for Nawaz, Pak SC orders JIT to probe Panama case

Srinagar: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday gave a split judgement on the highly anticipated Panama Papers case, issuing an order for the formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe how the Sharif family transferred money to Qatar, according to media reports.
Maryam Nawaz tweeted a photo of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family celebrating the verdict.
A five-judge bench had examined arguments presented by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Watan Party and the All Pakistan Muslim League, who framed the case out of court as a campaign against corruption.
The final verdict is split 3-2 among the bench, DawnNews reported, with two dissenting notes in the judgement. The two judges ruled against PM Nawaz Sharif, whereas the other three were in favour of forming a JIT.
Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, retired Capt Muhammad Safdar (the PM’s son-in-law) and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are the respondents in the case.
The petitioners had touted the revelations brought forth in the Panama Papers, published by the International Consortium of Journalists on April 3, 2016, as ‘evidence’ that the premier had lied to the nation in an address to Parliament where he ‘explained’ his position following the leaks.
The Panama Papers, which refer to a massive trove of secret documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — which specialised in helping the global elite stash wealth in offshore tax havens — had said that the PM’s children, Maryam, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz “were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several [offshore] companies”.

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